What We Are Doing

Safe systems approach

Vision Zero Surrey is based on a safe systems approach. The approach anticipates mistakes we make as road users and works to minimize their impact, with a goal of reducing fatal and serious injury crashes. 

The five pillars of a safe system are:

• Safe roads
• Safe speeds
• Safe vehicles
• Safe road users
• Post crash care

If one part of the system fails, other parts provide protection.

This means we must work together towards:

• Road designs that prioritize safety
• Vehicle speeds appropriate for the road environment
• Road user behaviours that create a culture of safety
• Safe and well-maintained vehicles
• Effective post crash care

Check out the categories below to see highlights of our actions under each pillar of the safe systems approach:

Reaching zero

We are on our journey to Zero. Our detailed implementation plan will help us as we work to achieve zero fatalities and serious injuries.

We are taking actions that will improve road safety and save lives when we build new developments, parks, recreation and other infrastructure.

We are incorporating road safety into the design and review of capital projects.

Continuous improvement and innovation

We are one of the top cities in North America for our forward-thinking approach. We use technology to achieve our goals whenever possible.

We respond to trends in our road safety data using Intelligent Transportation Systems. We integrate signal timing changes and prepare our city streets for emerging technologies like connected and autonomous vehicles to make sure our Vision Zero Surrey Safe Mobility Plan is effective now and into the future.

Advocacy

Road safety is a shared responsibility between all levels of government, corporations, non-profit organizations and the community. By collaborating with our road safety partners we move our shared Vision Zero objectives forward.

To make Zero a reality, we work to evolve policy and legislation so we can efficiently and effectively respond to current and emerging challenges.

We work with decision makers to ensure that making our roads safer remains a top priority.

Highlights of our safe systems interventions

The Vision Zero Surrey Safe Mobility Plan includes the following actions to make streets safe for everyone:

• Use data and analytics to help us better understand, anticipate, and take action to avoid common collision scenarios
• Target the city’s top high collision intersections with road safety infrastructure improvements
• Invest in rapid expansion of safe pedestrian crossings
• Build separated cycle tracks to protect our growing cyclist community
• Move innovative approaches in the operation and management of traffic signals forward
• Slow speeds through program like Surrey Slow Streets, speed limit reviews, speed reader boards, targeted enforcement and moving toward automated enforcement
• Implement mobility initiatives, including connected technologies that increase safety and the free-flow movement of people